Tropes:
- Acid-Trip Dimension: Passage to Lira San involves a hyperspace-like dimension that's brilliant and colorful.
- Actual Pacifist: Gron has become one, much to Zeb's annoyance.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Despite living with two Jedi and having grown up with Lasat spirituality, Zeb doesn't believe Chava's ritual will do anything. Subverted when it's revealed to be a sign of his own self-blame rather than actual disbelief.
- Armor-Piercing Response: Ezra eventually convinces Zeb to help with the ritual by giving him one of these.Zeb: I failed my people that day.Ezra: So don't fail them now.
- Bilingual Backfire: Chava catches Chopper calling her weird, and the two look ready to fight before Ezra steps in.
- Call-Back:
- Back in "Droids in Distress", Zeb mentioned that only the Honor Guard of Lasan possessed bo-rifles. Here, Zeb is revealed to be the captain of the guard.
- The airless planet Hondo and Ezra went to in "Brothers of the Broken Horn" returns — the Ghost crew pick up the refugees here.
- Canon Immigrant: Ashla, a name for the Light Side of the Force used by the ancient Jedi in Legends, is the Lasat name for the Force here. Which was itself a Mythology Gag: "Ashla" first showed up in Lucas' early drafts for The Star Wars.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Hondo is already known for this, but here, he takes it to new heights. First, he sells the two Lasats to the Empire; then he tips Ezra off about the sale so the Rebels will rescue them; then he sells the Rebels out to the Empire when they show up to investigate; then he tips Ezra off about the incoming stormtroopers and seals several corridors to make their escape easier; then, when captured by the Empire, he sells out the Rebels to them again; then finally, he tips Ezra off to the tracking device he left in the transmitter, allowing Ezra to destroy it.
- Facepalm: Zeb does this when Chava and Gron kneel before him.
- Foreshadowing: The Prophecy of Three, as explained by Chava, states that the Child must save the Warrior and the Fool. Zeb is established to be the Child, and while the Fool's identity is left ambiguous (strongly implied to be Hondo), Agent Kallus is explicitly stated to be the Warrior.
- Gravity Sucks: The gravity well of the black hole field is so strong that two TIEs are torn apart before they can even reach the Ghost, and Kallus' cruiser can't fire upon them because their blaster cannons arc off before they can connect.
- I Want Them Alive!: Kallus says this regarding the rebels.
- Kneel Before Frodo: Chava and Gron kneel before Zeb, who responds with a facepalm.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Rather than follow the Ghost into the Negative Space Wedgie, Kallus breaks off his pursuit, thinking that they'll be destroyed anyway. He's wrong.
- Legend Fades to Myth: The colony on Lasan was founded so long ago that they completely forgot it wasn't their homeworld. The way home survived as legend, but that it is the way home did not.
- Lightning Can Do Anything: Zeb's bo-rifle, when properly configured, can interface with a hologram to highlight a specific planet and control the Ghost to fly it through a field of imploded stars. Handwaved with the Force.
- Lost Technology: Largely unknown to modern Lasats, the bo-rifles of the Honor Guard are exacting re-creations of the ancient tools they used to guide their ships through the collapsed star cluster.
- Magic by Any Other Name: Kanan and Chava confirm that what the Lasat call the Ashla is the Force.
- Magitek: Zeb's bo-rifle, when properly configured. Possibly Chava's staff as well.
- My Greatest Failure: Since Zeb was captain of the Honor Guard, he feels that the fall of Lasan is on his shoulders.
- My Greatest Second Chance: Ezra convinces Zeb that helping find Lira San is a chance to make up for his perceived failure in preventing the destruction of the first.
- Mythology Gag: A place hidden in a hyperspace "maze" made from a cluster of black holes was first introduced in a Legends novel. Ironically, that was a secret Imperial research installation in said continuity, while this time it's hiding a world from Imperials.
- Negative Space Wedgie: The path to Lira San is blocked by a massive field of imploded stars, creating a maze of black holes.
- Not So Extinct: Zeb is not the Last of His Kind, as he thought: there are other Lasats on Lira San, which was their ancestral home.
- Our Mages Are Different: Lasat use of the Force is centered around the use of Magitek, interpretation of ancient prophecies, and ritual. It's distinct from the Jedi's use of the Force, but not exclusive.
- Playing Both Sides: Though Hondo is nominally on the side of the Rebels, he nevertheless swings back and forth as convenient. He sold the Lasats to the Empire, told the Rebels about the sale (leaving his role out, of course), sold the Rebels out to the Empire when he was caught by them, warned the Rebels that the Empire was coming and sealed some blast doors to aid their escape, and finally aids Kallus when he's caught yet again. For his final act, he tells Ezra about the tracking beacon in the transmitter he gave Ezra, allowing Ezra to destroy it.
- The Promised Land: Lira San is one for the Lasats, as it's their original homeworld and safe from the Empire.
- Prophecy Twist:
- The prophecy says that three people will lead to Lira San: the child, the fool, and the warrior. Over the course of the episode, Zeb ends up playing all three roles at different points, with Kallus, Hondo, and Ezra pitching in on occasion.
- Lira San turns out to be the original Lasat homeworld, where their people first evolved and where some still are.
- Sadistic Choice: Kallus gives the crew the choice between being destroyed by the black holes or surrendering to him. The crew Take a Third Option by using the Force to get through the cluster maze safely, while Kallus cannot follow due to not having the same abilities note .
- Scenery Porn: The imploded star cluster and nebulae look gorgeous. It's The Starry Night up to eleven.
- Shout-Out:
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Word of God says that the ethereal and minimalist music composed for the black hole cluster sequence was a homage to composer Phillip Glass (best known for his work on the soundtrack to Koyaanisqatsi). - Meanwhile, the visual is Van Gogh at his best.
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- So Proud of You: Hondo says this after Ezra bluntly tells him that he never intended to pay him a finder's fee.
- Taught by Experience: After interpreting prophecies for centuries, Chava knows how easily they can be misinterpreted.
- Third-Person Person: Hondo isn't normally one for this, but he does it twice in this episode:
- First, when asking Kanan and Sabine for help hiding the unconscious and/or dead Imperials in the cargo container Chava and Gron were hiding in."Hondo could use a little help."
- Second, when boasting to the Imperials about being able to find the Ghost crew."Well, finding these unfindable enemies of yours should be no problem for Hondo."
- First, when asking Kanan and Sabine for help hiding the unconscious and/or dead Imperials in the cargo container Chava and Gron were hiding in.
- The Three Faces of Adam: The Child, the Fool, and the Warrior. Initially Zeb believes he's the Warrior, is disappointed to learn he's the Child, and eventually achieves a measure of wisdom in learning that he is all three.
- Tracking Device: Hondo hid one in the transmitter that he gave Ezra.
